The earth's natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate. As an example, aluminum is one resource which is being rapidly depleted for a wide variety of human uses. One of the applications for which aluminum is used is as a bulk material in metal alloys for making aircraft, motor vehicles, and large components that can be assembled for constructing dwellings. Another application which requires the mining and processing of a significantly large amount of aluminum is the manufacturing of containers, i.e., aluminum cans, that hold beverages for human consumption.
Aluminum mining, besides depleting the earth's aluminum ore, can result in harm to the environment. Specifically, certain types of aluminum mining, like most kinds of ore mining, can result in damage to the land being mined by making the land unsightly and unfit for many kinds of animal and plant life for an extended period subsequent to the mining. Further, the processing of the raw aluminum into usable alloys can pollute the earth's atmosphere.
Moreover, used aluminum products, such as used beverage cans, are often disposed of in landfills. These aluminum products do not rapidly decay, but remain a near-permanent part of the landfills long after the landfills are no longer used for garbage disposal. Also, land which can otherwise be used as a waste disposal site is becoming increasingly more valuable for other uses, such as housing. Accordingly, it is desirable to reuse aluminum products whenever possible, to avoid both excessive mining and processing of raw aluminum, and to avoid exhausting landfills with aluminum waste.
For the reasons above, the necessity for recycling aluminum cans has taken on new urgency. Recycling efforts, however, can be inconvenient, particularly for the users of the aluminum cans. More particularly, it is easier for the typical consumer to simply throw away an aluminum can after use, rather than to deposit the can in a receptacle which is dedicated to the storing of used cans, and then transporting the somewhat bulky cans to a recycling facility.
To make the cans easier to transport, a number of devices have been developed to assist consumers in crushing the cans. One such device is made by Pacific Fabrication, Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. and is sold under the trademark "Can Crusher." The "Can Crusher" consists of a wall-mounted housing which has a plunger reciprocally disposed in the housing. A lever arm is pivotally attached to the plunger and housing, and can be manually pulled downward to force the plunger against a can which has been placed in the housing to crush the can.
The "Can Crusher" is obviously capable of condensing cans, and has gained a level of acceptance among a segment of aluminum can consumers. In the area of recycling, however, the issue is rarely one of capacity, but is usually one of convenience. That is, experience has shown that whether an average consumer will begin to recycle is largely dependent on the initial level of cost and effort required to begin recycling. Over an extended period of time, however, whether the average consumer will recycle is largely determined by the convenience and the satisfaction the consumer derives from his or her recycling efforts.
In this regard, the "Can Crusher" has a number of drawbacks. First, for some, the "Can Crusher" demands a significant amount of physical exertion to operate. Second, the "Can Crusher" is wall-mounted, requiring that the user exert significant initial effort in embedding fasteners into the wall to hold the device against the wall. The realization that, once mounted, the "Can Crusher" cannot easily be removed or relocated may deter a consumer whose level of commitment to recycling is not substantial from giving recycling a try. Similarly, for those people renting their place of residence, the realization that the "Can Crusher" can leave unsightly marks and holes on the wall after the unit is removed may likewise deter its use. Further, once crushed, the aluminum cans must be manually removed from the device. This can be both messy and dangerous. Specifically, fluid from the can will often escape from cracks in the crushed can and drip on the user and the wall and floor below the unit. Likewise, there is a significant risk that the user will be cut by a jagged metal edge of a crushed can while removing the can from the unit.
For these and other reasons, there is needed an improved can recycling device which lowers the initial barriers to beginning recycling, while at the same time enhancing the convenience and satisfaction derived from the consumer using the unit.